What Could Have Been
by leafyaki
Summary: Parallel Universes exist. Will they get their happy ending this time? 8. Finishing - "Why the hell is it always my name that is behind? That makes me look the weak one in a relationship, or something. Why not 'Alvi' or something, ghastly as that sounds?"
1. Take Me To Your Playground

**Title**: Take Me To Your Playground

**Prompt**: Culture

**Summary**: It's hard getting used to a new country – new language, new place, new food, and an annoying and adorable boyfriend.

**Genre**: Humour/Friendship

**Notes**: Before I knew it, Allen/Lavi week is upon us. Let's see if I can actually catch up. I'm afraid that this has not been beta-ed. Hope you enjoy it though! (:

**Word Count**: 1,142 words

* * *

Lavi, for the life of him, simply could not figure out the substance in front of him. He had been staring for the past five minutes, Allen beside him trying not to burst out into laughter and wearing that happy smirk that said he had bested Lavi in something for once. Allen popping five of those things into his mouth, one every minute, a slow record for him. And staring back at him all the while.

Gooey, Lavi surmised, having poked it thoughtfully and seeing the spot depress and return to its original shape when he coaxed it out, pushing at the sides of the indent, only to leave two new indents where the toothpicks were. Sweet, probably, with the weird smooth sauce over it, and seeing as they just had lunch an hour ago, it must be dessert, though Lavi looked at Allen warily, never knowing what to expect from the monstrosity of an appetite.

"What's this again, you say?" He said in an only slightly accented tongue, having battled sentence structure and syntax shortly after arriving in the country. Allen smiled at his silent victory, that Lavi, the intellect of their relationship, actually had to, oh, god forbid, _stoop_ to ask him. Even when Lavi was new to the country he knew practically everything and teased him about that. This time, _he_ would be holding this over the boy for the next week, or until Lavi find some other way to tease him, whichever was a longer time.

"What's that?" Allen said cheerfully, cupping a hand over his ear to annoy Lavi. "You were asking me something, dearest?" Allen smiled over at him, the perfect picture of cherubic innocence. He popped another of the delicacy into his mouth and chewed happily, eyes lazily scanning the busy street in front of him. "I couldn't hear you, you know, over the noise of the crowd. You'll have to repeat that."

Lavi gritted his teeth and smiled painfully back. "I was asking, _my dear_, what the h- what this is," he forced out, remembering at the last second that if he were to slip up at the dastardly game, the devil beside him would simply tease him even more. Allen chuckled and patted his hand, relenting, a silent apology in his eyes.

"This, Lavi, is _mitarashii dango_!" He beamed excitedly, gesturing with the skewer he just cleaned off. "It's sweet, and it's chewy, and this shop has the best sauce in the whole of this city, no, this country! The best food in the whole world, I swear! No, really!" He protested at the skeptical look Lavi gave him. "Just try it."

"The last time you said 'just try it' with that face – you're not fooling me now, Allen Walker – I ended up eating the most disgusting substance on earth," Lavi accused, mentally grimacing at the memory of wasabi burning up his mouth, and the frantic shouts for water which the way too amused waiter answered to, and the boy tossing his head back and laughing loud enough for the whole street to hear.

"Aww, Lavi!" Allen pouted, and Lavi turned away from that face. "I'm serious this time! I assure you, it's one of the nicest things Japan has to offer, okay? And," with a sweet smile, he leaned forward, whispering so no one else could hear, "if you're not happy this time, like with the sushi, I will…make it up to you, as I did last time," he fairly purred, reaching a hand out to ever so softly trace it down Lavi's cheek, giving an angelic smile the whole time.

Lavi groaned and turned back, feeling flushed under Allen's soft smile and hard eyes, completely contrasting, completely perfect, and yes, he fell completely for it, again, just as he had with the sushi. Preparing himself, he picked up the skewer and pulled a ball off, ready to bolt the food down with as few chews as possible. The sticky ball stuck to his mouth, his teeth moved methodically, the sauce gave a sweet, moist texture to the food, and he kept chewing, and chewing, and chewing…

Lavi's eyebrows rose, as he swallowed the food. "Not…too bad," he said mildly, reaching to pull the second ball off.

"That's not fair!" Allen said, smirking at him. "You were totally enjoying it. No, you were, Lavi!" He said as Lavi looked at him with a faux-confused, innocent expression. "See, you're even willingly eating the rest! Admit it, I was right this time," he said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest in the universal kingly pose.

"Yeah, sure, sure, beansprout," Lavi chuckled, taking his time with the skewer. While Allen chattered on beside him about everything and anything, throwing in a few choice words about how he was definitely not a beansprout, he smiled peacefully, settled comfortably despite the too hard bench, and just absent-mindedly stared out at the crowd.

He had arrived only a few months before, alone, nervous, wondering just what the hell his boyfriend was thinking, moving to Japan, of all places. And even now, with the language grasped and the place more or less navigated thoroughly, it still wasn't completely comfortable, completely familiar but…

Looking at the smiling boy, who grasped his free hand and wandered from topic to topic, occasionally nixing the language with English and French and god knows whatever language he had managed to pick up, he could only grin.

"And then he…Lavi, Lavi? Hello, Lavi, you there?" Allen said, waving a hand in front of him, looking amused.

"I'm glad I have you, beansprout."

"Wha…" Allen looked flustered, floundering around. "What, what brought that on, Lavi?" Lavi was grinning, completely sincere, taking in Allen's confused and yet pleased countenance. He leaned forward, dango forgotten in favour of messing up the white hair in front of him. Allen immediately scowled and tried to fix his hair to no avail. Lavi snickered at the habitual move, then quietened while Allen focused on flattening his nest of a hair.

"I just am, beansprout," Lavi gave a soft smile, twining their fingers together and pressing warmly against Allen's gloved palm. Holding Allen's eyes, conveying his gratitude and anxiety and confusion and yet, with all in him, trying to convey his happiness, and he hoped it got through. With his free hand, he picked up the skewer and continued eating, returning his gaze to the ever-moving crowd. He could sense Allen looking at him thoughtfully, the gaze never leaving his face.

"Yeah," he finally said gently, turning to look back out at the crowd as well, squeezing Lavi's hand. "I'm glad you're here too, Lavi."

And really, that was all the reassurance Lavi needed, that sunny weekend afternoon having someone with him to teach him about a new place, and to hold his hand through it when it got too difficult.

**

* * *

**

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested**:

Well, hi, thanks for reading!

I have to admit I only have this and one more written out for Allen/Lavi week, so I'm pretty much gonna have to churn out stuff everyday over the next week, wish me luck! To be sure, writing to prompts and having a time limit is good writing practice, I suppose (:

Now, about this story itself. I figure that even for Lavi, the Bookman Apprentice, going to different countries and experiencing different cultures is going to be a hard thing, despite how he seems to be able to ease into every place with no problem. Sure, he is smart, but who says he is all-powerful when it comes to culture, eh?

So here I have our dear Allen showing Lavi the ropes. I think that their relationship is equal, in the sense that they both compete with each other, but not to a hostile level, that's why Allen relents after a while and he doesn't push it when he sees Lavi's uncertainty, and even reassures him through it.

What else…to be honest, this was inspired after remembering the insane amount of dango Allen wolfs down. So there we go, Allen introducing Lavi to dango. By the way, the thing about Lavi hating wasabi is canon :D

Over this week I hope to explore 'what their lives could have been' in parallel universes. I got this idea from…I don't really remember, from someone who did it for Allen/Kanda week. So whoever you are, thanks for the idea!

Hope you enjoyed, and reviews are very much appreciated! (:


	2. Six Degrees of Separation

**Title**: Six Degrees Of Separation

**Prompt**: New Day

**Summary**: It's never too hard, you just need a little faith.

**Genre**: Romance/Friendship

**Notes**: Again, not beta-ed. A little band ficlet, don't we all love that? (:

**Word Count**: 2,269 words

* * *

_It's a new day_

_It's a new dawn_

_It's a new life…_

_And I'm feeling…_

_Good._

Wild shrieks tore through the crowd as the boy strutted down the stage, crooning out the words and smiling devilishly at the crowd. Throwing his head back, he sang in a boyish tone strangely befitting the song.

It was a concert that gathered famous bands from all over the world to honour the classics. **Central** had quickly gained critics' attention, quickly enough, at least, to have a fanbase that was currently screaming its head off at the sight of the lead singer.

Allen Walker, mysterious, always smiling, and youthful, was on his way to becoming a star.

Smiling at the crowd, and grinning from the growl from his scowling guitarist, he proceeded into the main verse.

_Birds, flying high, you know how I feel_

_Sun__, in the sky, you know how I feel…_

.

Lavi, twenty years old, was currently engaged in the unhealthy hobby of being glued to the television screen.

His eye drank in the boy moving across the stage, and he seriously wanted to ignore the phone that was ringing next to him obnoxiously. Thankfully, it stopped after a while and he was left to resume watching in peace.

There's a small smile playing on the singer's lips, and Lavi watched it intently. The smile would have seemed sexy to anyone else and, well, it probably still is, but…

Lavi thought he recognized something in it. Maybe a bit of tire, even though the boy was flushed with the excitement of being there, able to perform.

Maybe, Lavi entertained his fantasies for a while, maybe he is lonely too, like most other singers profess to be, and he could be searching for a certain someone…

Lavi chuckled to himself at that point, mocking his foolish thoughts. He is clearly deluded if he thinks that he can fall into some fantasy that every girl dreams of.

**Central** finished performing, and as they moved off the stage, waving to the enthusiastic fans, his phone began to ring again. Sighing irritably, he picked it up.

"Yeah?"

A chuckle answered him from the other side. "Should have known you would be too absorbed by the TV to bother answering my call. So, saw Allen?"

"Lenalee," Lavi groaned and leaned back into the couch. "I'm surprised you even saw Allen, thought you'd be enchanted by that guitarist."

"Hey!" There was a noise of indignation from the other side. "Well, yeah, he is hot…but you know what they say about guitarists, they're the ones who are the mysterious, sexy ones, pull the audience's gaze to them, you can't blame me."

Lavi laughed. "Oh, we better give it up, Lenalee. With our luck the guitarist is probably banging the singer."

There was an unhappy sound over the phone and he chuckled as he heard the tell-tale sounds of Lenalee clicking around on the net to verify his teasing sentence.

"Why so pessimistic anyway, Lavi? Isn't it nice to just have dreams sometimes?" Lenalee said softly. Lavi smiled at the note of concern in her voice. He sighed and wriggled against the couch, thinking carefully of what to say to her…

.

"Good show today, eh, Kanda?" Allen said cheerily as he hopped out of the shower.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Their resident black cloud stomped into the shower and Allen sent a quizzical look at Marie.

Marie laughed. "Those fangirls cornered Kanda again."

"Ah," Allen said simply. He flopped onto the couch and smiled at nothing in particular. Krory looked up from where he was surfing the net to look over at the boy.

"Hey, Allen. You seem…actually, Allen, you don't seem too happy, care to say why?" Krory said thoughtfully, pushing away from the computer and rolling the chair over to the couch.

"Eh?" Allen jerked his head up in surprise. Marie smiled and headed off into the kitchen, knowing when it's best to leave people to talk things out. Allen just stared at Krory. Krory grinned back, and Allen huffed lightly at his much too intuitive friend.

"Krory," he started, leaning his head back comfortably against the couch, "have you ever thought of what would happen after this?"

Krory thought for a while and tapped his finger against his lips. "Sort of…I know I will want to find someone nice to settle down with."

Allen laughed softly. "Yeah, me too, it's just that…"

.

"…they are stars, or even if they aren't, they're on their way to becoming one. They have countless fans surrounding them everyday, we are just one of the many who like them."

Lenalee hummed thoughtfully. "It's true, and I won't say I'm hinging much hope on ever going out with Kanda, but…I thought you've exchanged a few emails with Allen before, back when they were starting out. Oh, Lavi," Lenalee chuckled, "you were a devoted fan from day one!"

Lavi laughed, reminiscing fondly. "Oh, yeah, we did exchange some emails…"

.

"…it's hard to differentiate these days, between fans who love our music, fans who love the idea of us, and fans who are actually interested in us, you know."

Krory hummed thoughtfully, gesturing for the boy to go on.

"I don't mean fans who want to find out every thing from the food we like to the perennial 'boxers or briefs'. Flattering, I suppose. But not exactly the kind of attention I want. It's a bit stalker-ish, you know."

Allen leaned forward and accepted the cup of tea that Marie handed him. He smiled in thanks and nodded, indicating that Marie could join in if he wanted to. He stirred his tea as Marie settled down next to him on the couch and leaned his head back to rest against it, closing his eyes to give Allen his full attention.

"It'd be nice…it'd be nice if I can find someone who is interested in me not in the crazy fan way. I am still quite flattered when I receive emails…I remember one person, he was there when we first started…"

.

"He sounded cute, even over the mail-"

Lavi was cut off by Lenalee's tinkling laughter. He grinned, turning down the volume of the TV to talk without interference.

"Yeah, laugh at me, why don't you. So there I was, talking about the meaning of the songs and asking him, you know, about his life experiences, how they inspired the songs…"

.

"…I think he was actually concerned about me, you know. Not just the songs, not just the band, but me and the songs. Or…I'm not putting this right. He was talking about the songs, and he wondered if they meant something to me personally. And well, they do. It wasn't just a generic 'I love your music' email or 'keep it up' email, which, much as I love, aren't as deep as, well…"

Krory smiled. "His emails?"

Allen smiled back. "Yeah, his emails. I don't know whether I even got his real name…he signed off as 'Lavi', but for all I know it could be a fake name…"

.

"…imagine my surprise when he replied! Heh, Lenalee, I think he sounded really cute and even a little flustered. Maybe he didn't expect such a mail?"

"Maybe, you never know. I sent emails to Kanda but he never replied. I'm jealous!"

"Ah, he doesn't seem the type of guy to reply to fan emails. Or maybe Allen just takes over them and replies for him."

"Dang, I should try again. Have you still been emailing him?"

"Well, yeah, kind of…"

.

Krory exchanged a grin with Marie. Allen was still contemplating the meaning of life in his tea cup, so he missed the little exchange.

"Well, have you still been receiving his emails?" Marie asked gently.

"Huh?" Allen jerked his head up and nodded dumbly to Marie. "Well, I think he sent an email before we came to this concert…"

Krory laughed and pointed at the computer. "It's all yours, Allen."

Allen looked at him blankly for a while.

Krory scoffed. "Oh, come on, Allen, for all you know you guys might meet some day! You could ask for his messenger email, or something!"

"But…" He protested weakly. "But I thought there are some policies about this? You know, in case they spread the email address and we get flooded with people wanting to chat with us, and privacy issues and all?"

Marie chuckled. He ruffled Allen's hair warmly.

"I'm sure you can trust this guy enough, if as you say he is different from all the other fans. Well, you can just send your messenger address. And if it turns out that he spreads your mail…" Marie shrugged. "No biggie, we can just change to another address, abandon that one entirely, yeah?"

Allen bit his lip, looking unsure.

Kanda, at that moment, stepped out of the shower and looked at the trio of them sitting around the coffee table.

"Che. Whatever gay things you guys are talking about, sort it out before I come back," he barked and stomped into his bedroom.

"Oh, just go brush your girly hair or something, jerk!" Allen shouted back.

Marie smothered a chuckle, while Krory didn't even bother to hide his amusement.

"Kanda is right though, Allen. Dithering on this isn't going to help us any. And it's time to take some risks, right? Or you'll never meet other people."

Sighing, Allen looked from Marie's encouraging smile to Krory's grinning countenance, before making his way over to the computer.

.

"Well then, just send another! Tell him good job done tonight, and you guys can continue on whatever topic you guys were on last time! Which, by the way, what was it?"

"Uh…" Lavi thought for a while. "I think I was asking him for his opinions on religion. He said he's a Christian and well…we did have a sort-of chat over email…"

Lenalee laughed. "Trust you to complicate every conversation with topics like that. Well, go on, just mail him! If I know you, you have your laptop right beside you now, even as you were watching TV earlier."

Lavi glanced guiltily to the side where indeed, as Lenalee said, his laptop lay open and ready for him, with the numerous tabs indicating the various sites he was surfing prior to the concert.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay, Lenalee?"

"Yup! Tata, and if you could convince him to tell me more about Kanda, I'll love you forever."

"Like you don't love me already. Alright already, sweet dreams, princess."

"If Komui catches you calling me that he'll skewer you. Alright, see you!"

Flipping his phone shut neatly, Lavi sighed and shifted the laptop onto his knees, opening his email folder. Letting out a nervous little huff, he decided to just go with it.

.

_Dear Lavi, _

_Hi, I haven't heard from you for a while since our last exchange. Apologies, we were travelling for quite a while. Hope you enjoyed tonight's concert! _

_I recall it's my turn to throw out a topic. So…I've been reading __The Little Prince__, which I'm pretty sure you've read before, you intellect you. How did you find it? _

_I loved the little messages in it, but it seems too beautiful, don't you think? It's all well and good to say money doesn't matter much in this world, but how many people actually do get to be able to find something so precious to them that they really won't think about money? Ironic, too, that status and names don't matter, and I'd like to believe in that, and yet I'm in a position where I have to think carefully about what I say and do for the band's position. _

_Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a world like the little prince's? _

_And in reply to your last question, why yes, I do love card games. Poker in particular, up to it when we do meet? _

_Take care, Lavi! _

_Regards,_

_Allen_

_P.S. Because Krory and Marie were pestering me about it…would you like it if we have a chat over messenger? It'd be a step closer to a face-to-face conversation. Tell me, alright? They are currently laughing over my shoulder._

_._

_Dear Allen,_

_I watched your concert today, you did a good job (: And from the crowd's reaction, you probably did more than a good job for them. _

_Sometimes I regret that I can't actually get to see you perform live, it must feel different from sitting at home looking at a pixilated screen. If I'm lucky, we might meet face-to-face soon, and I can treat you to that awesome coffee I promised ages ago. You'd have to come here though, and I wonder if your tour manager will ever arrange for you to ;)_

_So last time, I was telling you I'm an atheist and we talked about religion for quite a long while. Well, as promised, now it's your turn. Throw any topic at me, just remember to tell me what you think about it first. _

_My friend was nagging me about it, so if you could, please give me some information about Kanda so I can get her off my back. She has memorized pretty much everything that can be found on the magazines, so some other information will be appreciated. Like…something funny you guys got up to, anything you can think of. I will be eternally grateful. _

_Cheers,_

_Lavi_

_P.S. No stress about the upcoming album ;)_

.

And in two little corners of the world, at the exact same time, two messages were sent out and two were received.

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Again, thanks for reading!

A little band fic because I've always wanted to try it. Turned out differently from what I intended it to be. I hope this works. I like putting Allen in the role of singer because he'd be awesome doing it. He has that confidence and poise (recalls Black Allen and his innocent smile when playing Poker). Lavi is adorable being love-struck. And I couldn't figure out a realistic way of them falling in love/meeting when they are in such obviously disparate positions, so email it is then, with today's technology.

What do you mean you haven't read The Little Prince? Shoo, go read it, it's lovely! I can totally see Allen liking that book. And yes, Lavi is still the intellect we all know and love, he probably knows every single book Allen has read.

I also like it when they are both uncertain when it comes to relationships (: Marie and Krory are awesome, aren't they?

Song is New Life, sung by many many people. The one I have in mind is the one Adam Lambert sang in American Idol Season VIII. Chosen because the prompt brought that to mind.

Reviews are very much appreciated~


	3. Upon A Star

**Title**: Upon A Star

**Prompt**: Ocean

**Summary**: Perhaps one day we can head there, in our hideous bathing suits.

**Genre**: Angst/Friendship

**Notes**: Not beta-ed again. Erm…nothing much to say. I do hope you enjoy!

**Word Count**: 3,172 words

* * *

…_Have you seen my childhood?_

_I'm searching for that wonder in my youth_

_Like pirates in adventurous dreams, _

_Of conquest, and kings on thrones… _

* * *

"Good morning, Lavi!" A nurse greeted, a wide smile on her lips as she saw the youth cheerfully push open the wooden doors of the hospital. The other nurses chuckled and sent their own waves as well.

"Oh, good morning to you too, pretty ladies!" Lavi said cheerfully, sending a small wave the nurse's way.

"Oh shush you, young man, flattery gets you nowhere," she chuckled, swatting him on the head with a clipboard. Lavi yelped and immediately pouted.

"Oi, that's violence there, you!" Lavi said, rubbing his head and mock scowling, making the nurse laugh again. Lavi grinned, nodding at her and they then walked down the corridor together, Lavi leading the way confidently, making small talk along the way.

It was a small hospital, walls painted a bright yellow in an attempt to cheer the patients up. Lavi didn't have the heart to tell them it had long since faded into a disgusting puke-yellow. He knew, and the nurses knew too, that their funds were running low and this small homely hospital might have to close anytime soon…but for now, they still worked hard to give hope to the patients.

Lavi sighed as he approached the familiar door, half dreading the visit. The other half of him was eager to see his friend again, but it was getting more and more painful each day to see his deterioration…ten years already, how much longer will he have?

The nurse gave him a sympathetic smile and patted him on the shoulder, shaking him out of his reverie. Mustering up his courage and plastering on a smile, Lavi pushed the door open and grinned widely at the figure on the bed.

The boy in turn shifted in the direction of the sound and a small smile crept onto his face…

.

"_Hey, Allen!" _

_A small boy looked up and grinned widely at his friend, revealing two missing front teeth. Lavi was proud that he had already re-grown his own two front teeth, and they were adult teeth too! _

"_Lavi! Hi, Lavi!"_

_The redhead flopped down onto the grass beside the smaller boy and laughed as Allen launched himself forward immediately, clamouring for a hug. _

"_Woah there, you are heavy!" Lavi chuckled as Allen scrambled around for better purchase, finally settling down in the hollow Lavi's crossed legs formed. _

"_Yeah! Mana says I'm a big boy now, I'm gonna be five years old!" Allen said excitedly, holding up a hand, fingers outstretched proudly. _

"_Well, I'm still bigger than you, Allen! Taller, too!" _

"_No fair! I'll always be younger than you, that's not fair!" The boy pouted, which only made Lavi grin wider. _

"_Yep! You'll always be a little shorty," Lavi sang, which prompted Allen to hit him on the chest with his little fist. "Okay, I think Mana said fighting is bad too, Al-len." _

_The small boy huffed and crossed his arms, peering up in a displeased manner. Lavi relented and patted his hair. Like a cat, Allen leaned into the touch, happily enjoying the time out with his friend. Lavi immediately launched into chattering about the things he did and saw today, with Allen occasionally adding in his little comments. It really was a beautiful day to be out, the sun warm and gentle on their faces. _

_It would have been such a good day, too. _

_Allen__, in the midst of their conversation, suddenly started gasping, pitching forward violently in Lavi's lap. Frantic, Lavi patted his back, not knowing what to do. He thought it would pass after a while, but Allen only continued coughing, gasping in a frighteningly breathless way. In a high voice, Lavi shouted for help. _

"_MANA! Help, Mana!" _

_And hearing the sound, the man dashed around the house and headed towards his two young charges, barely holding back his own panic._

.

"What, Kanda actually had the guts to curse the teacher?" The teenager exclaimed, surprise evident in his eyes.

"Yeah! So there he was, in detention! But no, he just couldn't be quiet, so he flipped the desk over and attempted to escape from the classroom, and then Lenalee had to come over and restrain him…"

Hearty laughter filled the room as Allen heard the latest stories about his friends' misdeeds, and Lavi grinned at being able to cause that laughter, even if it was only for a short while.

.

_The doctor looked saddened, and Mana frowned, worried. Allen was fast asleep beside him, leaning against Lavi, who was snoring lightly. The two of them were exhausted by the long examination and even Mana would have fallen asleep too, had he not been so anxious for the doctor's results. _

_The doctor gestured for him to enter the office. After making sure the two boys were securely tucked in by his coat, Mana entered the office, tension written in every line on his face. They sat down in hard wooden chairs, the doctor looking extremely reluctant to disclose the news. _

"_Please just tell me," Mana said curtly, eyes determined. "I'm sure we can try to find a cure, whatever it is." _

_The man sighed and looked very, very tired for a while, before he straightened up and assumed a professional tone. _

"_I'm afraid, sir, that your son has…to put it simply, a hole in his heart." _

_Mana's eyes widened, and he nearly stopped breathing for a while. "How…what…but, how on earth could that be possible?" _

"_Mr. Walker, as you know, when your son was born we did not have the technology that we do now. Even now it is still highly experimental, but we have reason to believe that Allen's heart is not functioning properly. It is not impossible that he has been born with this condition, and we are not sure how badly it will affect him from now on…"_

"_You mean he could be alright?" Mana said with desperate hope in his voice. _

_The doctor frowned slightly. "It is likely that attacks such as the one he had today will happen again. He might have difficulty breathing and will experience fatigue because the hole causes abnormal blood flow in his heart…we have some medicine that are specifically for patients with heart problems, but we will have to be careful to find the right one for your son." _

_At the man's devastated look, the doctor thought he could have felt his heart physically tear itself a little apart as well. It was always hard, having such young patients and their desperate parents sitting in the same chair in front of him, eyes barely holding back the tears from dropping. The man in front of him was rubbing his face with a shaky hand, face turned to the floor._

"_What is the worst situation?" He whispered, half dreading the answer. _

_The doctor closed his eyes and chose his words carefully. "The hole might increase unnecessary pressure on the right side of his heart and if this continues…he might experience heart failure in the future." _

_There was utter silence for a while. The doctor could not stand it and attempted to break it. _

"_Please understand, Mr. Walker, that medical breakthroughs are happening all the time. Just five years ago we would not have been able to find out what is happening to your son. Now, at least, we can work something out and attempt to prevent the situation worsening-" _

_Mana stood abruptly, breathing shaky. The doctor stood as well, concerned. _

"_I'm sorry, doctor, I just need…I need to see my son, now." _

_The doctor nodded, and the man practically tore out of his room to the corridor, where two small boys were slowly awakening, wondering where the adults were._

.

Lavi smiled as the boy's chuckles died down. Allen settled back tiredly on his pillows, a small grin still playing on his lips.

"Hey, Allen?"

"Mmm?" The boy mumbled.

"Mana's not here, that's rare."

"Oh…" He said slowly. "He went to get some food, he'll be back in a while, he said…"

"That's good," Lavi whispered, shifting his chair forward so that he could stroke the boy's hair easily. Allen smiled and leaned into his touch, eyes closed in seeming bliss.

His breathing was getting a little shakier, Lavi noticed. They were no longer deep, smooth breaths. Shaky exhalation followed after every jerky inhalation, and the grip on his other hand tightened at random times, almost like spasms.

"Hey, Allen. Hang in there, okay, you'll pull through." Lavi was slightly frightened now, though he tried valiantly to hide it.

The boy huffed a little, and for his sake Lavi imagined it as simply a smaller scale of the happy laughter he heard just now, and not a breathing difficulty of any sort.

"Idiot Lavi…I won't die so easily…" Allen muttered, smiling a little in a reassuring manner.

Allen slipped into a small doze, his hand still warm in Lavi's grip. Lavi smiled weakly and struggled to control his own emotions. It would be useless, utterly useless to everyone if he were to cry at that moment. Taking a deep breath, he gripped Allen's hand tighter and summoned a wider smile. Allen did say that he hated it when Lavi didn't smile.

"Make sure you don't, shorty," Lavi whispered, dropping his forehead down to rest on their clasped hands. He closed his eyes wearily.

.

"_Allen, you're not going to school today?" _

_Lavi was frowning a little. He was upset, and Allen didn't look too happy either. _

"_Mana said I have to go see the doctor…he said I might have to take some of those icky medicine." _

_At that, both boys made a face. _

"_They don't taste nice. Grandpa__ made me take those too, when I was sick. But Allen, you're not sick, are you?" Lavi leaned forward worriedly, placing a hand against the boy's forehead to check for a fever. _

_Allen laughed brightly. "Silly Lavi! I don't have a fever! Mana said it's to do with when I didn't feel too well when I was playing with you last week." _

"_Oh…okay then…maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" Lavi still looked sad, until Allen tackled him and hugged him tightly. _

"_Yeah! I__'ll be fine, don't worry!" _

_A low chuckle came from behind Allen and Allen turned to beam at the man. Mana smiled gently. "Go on then, Lavi. If you're late for school Mr. Reever won't be happy." _

_Lavi squeaked and looked up, eyes widened when he realized how high the sun was already. Hurriedly, he hugged Allen back and squeezed tighter than usual. Allen laughed breathlessly and squeezed him back. Then, Lavi had no choice but to reluctantly release the boy and dash to school, throwing a quick wave back to the father and son. _

"_Let's go then, Mana!" Allen said cheerfully and tugged at his father's arm. Mana chuckled and allowed himself to be pulled along, trying to keep the worry from being too evident on his face. _

.

"When I get better…" Allen said, then trailed into a pause.

Lavi looked up from the apple that he was peeling and followed his gaze. A tired Mana was lying on the couch, taking a small doze now that Lavi had come to look after Allen for him for a little while. Lavi smiled and turned back, nodding at Allen to continue.

"When I get better, let's hit the beach. You, me, Mana, and your grandpa too if he wants to come along."

Lavi laughed, delighted at the thought. "That'd be fun! Eww, but grandpa will look awful in a bathing suit!"

"Lavi!" Allen said, scandalized. Lavi looked at him seriously.

"Picture it, Allen. A wrinkly old man with a tight suit over him…"

Allen squeaked at the hilarious thought and pushed Lavi playfully. "That's not nice, Lavi! Even if it's true."

"Ah ha! See, even you agree!" Lavi said triumphantly. He waved his hands in the air, describing other more disgusting images

_("How about…Kanda in a bathing suit!" _

"_Lavi! Don't insult the bathing suit!")_

and other more delectable images

_("Lenalee in a bathing suit! …Allen, why are you blushing?" _

"_A-am not!")_

and things they could eat there

_("Oh shit, Allen, stop right there." _

"_But Lavi, there'll be ice cream, and watermelon, and maybe we could get some of those pancake thingies, I heard that they have tried putting banana and chocolate together and it sounds awesome! And maybe some pretzels and noodles and-" _

"_You can stop now.")_

and it will just be great…fun.

Imagine that.

.

"_He seems to be doing well, Mr. Walker." _

"_Thank you__, doctor. It's amazing, isn't it? And I was so scared he'll just be gone any day now…" _

_The two men observed the boys fiddling with a puzzle. Allen was nearly ten now, and Lavi thirteen. On the days Allen could not go to school, Lavi would come armed with parchment and carefully bound books, and occasionally with a game if both of them weren't in the mood for studying. _

"_I was hoping that if Allen is better, that I could bring them both on a holiday. They certainly deserve it. That Lavi boy is such a good boy…" _

_The doctor bit his lip and looked away. He did not have the heart to say that it is unlikely for Allen to be able to travel anymore. _

"_The countryside will be nice…maybe even the beach, if we can afford it. Know any good places, doctor?" _

_The doctor didn't answer, just watched silently. _

"_There's nearly nothing here, it's clean, sure, but not much fun for two little boys, eh? I think they made friends with two other kids too, I think they are from Asia. So far away…they are smart kids. Who knows, maybe they could go to college together! Wouldn't that be the talk of this little town?" Mana said, excitement lighting his eyes, a fond smile on his face as he thought of the future. _

"_My son will be a good man…he'll marry a sweet girl and they'll have children, and Lavi will be the kids' godfather, he'll spoil them rotten. Or…you know, doc, maybe my son will fall in love with Lavi. Huh. The bishop will have a field day with them…" A thoughtful frown came to Mana's face, but he didn't seem worried or angry at all. The doctor lifted his hand to Mana's shoulder but let it drop halfway through. Mana didn't seem to notice, his eyes glazed. _

"_But actually, that doesn't seem all too unlikely…I guess I might not have any grandchildren after all, doc. They'll be happy though, they'll be happy…Allen's a good kid, Lavi too, I will have to give them their own space, make sure they don't have to worry about me…" Mana laughed and the hollow ring in it made the doctor cringe. Mana's eyes were shining with a strange light, almost as though he was trying to hold back tears. _

"_Oh, but what am I thinking? Let's just do the first thing first, and bring them to a beach. It'll be a treat, I'm sure…" _

_There was a pause, during which the doctor and Mana did not look __at each other. Then, smiling, Mana walked into the room to the happy greetings of two children._

_In the dark corridor, the doctor could only stare at his peaceful smile and his shining eyes and try to keep his professional mask. The nurses walked up and down the corridor, brushing past him as they went about their daily duty and bustle, and even then he stood there staring into the room, ignoring the nurses' occasional worried glances. _

_If there is a God, he thought bitterly, then He must be a cruel, cruel God. _

.

Lavi hummed as he skipped along the corridor. The tulips were in bloom again, and despite the horrid cold, they were a lovely sight. Allen's favourite flowers, he had to pick them out and sneak past the old lady who was always so protective over her flower patch.

That's weird, he thought as he pushed open the wooden doors. The usual nurse wasn't there. There were some hurried whispers along the corridors between the nurses. Lavi shrugged it off, gradually turning his hums into whistles. It was a random ditty he and Allen created all on their own, haphazard and strangely cheerful. Allen had even sung a little that day, adding his own nonsensical words to it.

Quickly enough, he came to a stop in front of the wooden door and flung it open.

"Allen! Would you see the tulips! I know you like them, you nancy boy…you…"

He trailed off. A tall, familiar figure was hunched over the bed, and the room was absolutely still. Lavi's eyes widened, his hand that was gripping the tulips going slack.

"Ah…ah, haha!" Lavi said quickly, eyes closing in desperate mirth. "Good one, you guys! Halloween was over weeks ago, and April's Fool isn't for ages yet! What a cruel joke though, don't do that again! Eh, Mana, there's still that vase…right?"

There was a long silence. Lavi tried to widen his smile, but found that his facial muscles wouldn't work properly. He swallowed.

"Mana?" He whispered painfully.

A choked sob answered him, and Lavi, finally feeling the realization hit him, let the flowers slowly flutter to the ground in a lazy dash of red, yellow, and violet.

They were so, so beautiful in the cold winter light.

.

"_You mean, there __really are such big fishes in the world?" The boy's eyes were wide with wonder and curiosity shining in them. _

"_Yeah! Bigger than the biggest fish you've ever ever seen!" Lavi spread his arms wide and laughed as his friend gasped in excitement. There was a mild chuckle from beside them. Mana looked at the boys with fondness. _

"_And they'll be swimming?" _

"_Course they'll be swimming! They are swimming before we eat them, you know!" _

"_What!" Allen__ seemed dismayed. "Then we can't eat them, or they won't swim!" _

_Lavi laughed and patted the boy's head. "Don't worry! If they're so big the fishermen can't catch them too, and so we won't eat them!" _

"_Oh…__okay!" A wide smile blossomed on his face. "So we'll get to see them?" _

"_Sure thing! Just eat your icky medicine and then we can go soon!" Allen grimaced at the reminder of the medicine. He pouted and snuggled closer to the redhead who hugged him readily. With his free hand he reached out to Mana to twine Mana's hand in his, his left side already pressed warmly up against the man. _

"_Oh, look, Allen, a shooting star! Quick, make a wish!" _

_Wide eyes turned to the sky and the boy gasped as he saw the star. Quickly closing his eyes, he clasped his hands together. The older boy hurriedly did the same. With a gentle smile, the man did the same too, closing his eyes tightly. _

"_**I wish…"**_

"_**I wish…"**_

"_**I wish…"**_

_And the stars twinkled in the distant sky, smiling down on earth. _

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Is this a case of good prompt gone wild?

I originally had in my head this scenario of Allen and Lavi heading to the beach and Allen spreading his arms going "SEEEEEEEEA!" and then he'll be screaming "I HATE YOOOOOU!" into the distance like an idiot. Then my mind drew a blank. What the hell am I supposed to write after that?

And then it turned into a wish to see the ocean, in a little-boy-wish-esque way, and then my mind supplied me with utterly quaint images of a mountainside town with its own little hospital and green dotting the hills. Lavi is such a doll, isn't he? And I adore Mana, he must have been a wonderful father.

Kanda and Lenalee? UH. Well, since it's a small town girls can go to school too, since they're close and all and…uh…they are from Asia…

Research? Did you miss the part where I said I have not written anything and have to write one piece per day? Medical equipment? What?

Basically, please don't kill me for inaccuracies. Hole in heart = totally not stolen from the manga.

Lyrics at the top are from Childhood by Michael Jackson. Utterly heartbreaking song.

Any and all thoughts are much appreciated~


	4. The Road To Mandalay

**Title**: The Road To Mandalay

**Prompt**: Connection

**Summary**: It was sex, plain and simple. It was what we both needed.

**Genre**: Angst/Romance

**Notes**: First smut scene ever. It most likely sucks. Still…please read? (Added: Damn, finally allowed to update. Apologies for the delay! And thanks for the reviews, I'll get to replying them properly :D)

**Word Count**: 1,828 words

* * *

_We're connected by a thread, and we're slowly spinning, spinning, spinning out of control. The thread is getting thinner. One day it'll just…_

_Snap._

.

This is the short and long of it.

Bookman died.

.

There was a grunt. Somebody was slammed against a hard surface. A desperate grinding, the rustling of clothes, and the descent began.

Lavi was panting small breaths against Allen's neck, pushing his face into the hollow of the younger boy's neck and nipping the skin hard with his teeth. A small wince made its way onto the boy's face, but he pushed back encouragingly, grinding their hips together. His hand snaked around to grip Lavi's back, pressing their bodies flush against each other, feeling the heat build up unbearably.

It was in his room, with the darkness shrouding them so that they did not have to see each other's faces. So they could only feel, desperate touch against equally frantic touch.

His room? Whose room? Allen's lonely, empty room, or the room Lavi had long ago abandoned?

It didn't matter. Nothing really mattered.

Lavi growled and lifted his head, connecting their lips clumsily, tongue pushing and forcing its way into Allen's mouth. Allen only moaned softly and twined his arms tighter across Lavi's back as he kissed back all too willingly. It was getting far too warm between them. Their mouths were hungry and open and hot breaths were panted from one to the other. Lavi lifted a hand to pull at Allen's buttons and attempted to get the coat off thin shoulders. Their lips parted for a moment, and gray eyes peered into a single bright green eye.

"Lavi," Allen said in a husky whisper. "Lavi, fuck, I need you."

Lavi's breath hitched and he pulled Allen from where they had been standing against the wall to the bed. Allen twisted and pushed such that Lavi fell back first, allowing him to straddle Lavi's hips. Lavi, impatient, reached a hand down to fumble with Allen's pants first, forgetting the coat completely. Allen sat and let him, panting softly, taking the time to regain a bit of his senses. His gray eyes were bright in the dark room, narrowed in a predatory way, alight with pure lust. Lavi groaned at seeing it, and sped up his efforts to remove the boy's pants.

He finally got past the button. The zip was easy. And then Allen was getting off the bed and pushing down his pants along with his boxers, letting them crumple in a messy heap on the floor. Lavi wasted no time in pulling the boy back to lie on top of him. His right hand went down to fondle the cock, thumb rubbing at the sensitive head.

Allen released a pure, animalistic growl and practically tore through the front of Lavi's pants as well, forcing his hips up to pull the material down and off his ankles. Then they attacked each other again, nipping at lips, necks, collarbones, hands pushing up the hem of the shirts to stroke nipples.

It was hot, far too hot. Allen had tugged off the glove on his left hand and the rough texture of the skin there scratched at Lavi's balls, making Lavi involuntarily squeak and push his hips up for _more, more, god please, more_. Chuckling warmly, Allen moved it to Lavi's cock, curiously caressing the head and stroking the whole length firmly, up and down steadily. Lavi was panting harshly and so Allen pressed lips against his, swallowing the sounds Lavi made. Lavi's hand had stuttered, and Allen commandeered it away gently, using his left hand to encircle both of them instead.

The reaction was immediate. Lavi arched his back and threw his head back, releasing a loud moan. Allen gritted his teeth and continued grinding, using his left hand to enhance both their pleasure. Lavi, helpless against the onslaught, scrambled and reached his arms around Allen's back to pull the boy flush against himself. He felt the sweat from both of them collect between their bodies and he didn't care. Fuck, Allen didn't care either, he just kept a constant motion, pushing and pushing and it was just getting far, far too hot…

Lavi groaned as he came, spilling messily onto both their torsos. Allen moaned at the sudden rush of warmth and came as well, slumping down tiredly onto Lavi's body, feeling both of them shudder through the spasms.

.

Everyone was worried about Lavi. He was becoming jerky, restless. Allen was the only one these days who he would sit beside and he would not talk for hours. Allen remained similarly silent.

It wasn't that Allen didn't know what to say. It was that he understood. It was a terrible and uncomfortable understanding.

Lavi needed to be near him, because only then could he feel like he was completing the task Bookman set out to do. Observing _The Destroyer of Time_, and making a damn good record of it too.

.

It wasn't meant to be beautiful, they both knew that, even as their hearts calmed down and they pressed into the embrace.

There was no satisfaction that came with the climax. No cuddling, just a fierce press of body against body, stiff and unmoving. Lavi didn't move his hand to stroke Allen's back, and Allen's hands just clenched against the material of Lavi's coat. A horrible, hollow feeling invaded Allen's chest and he closed his eyes, hiding his face in Lavi's neck. Lavi pressed his nose against Allen's ear and breathed steadily.

It wasn't meant to be like that. Nothing was.

.

Link made records of it.

_The Bookman has died__. As his Apprentice, Junior, who assumed the 49__th__ alias 'Lavi', Exorcist of the Black Order, stepped up to take the role and has assumed the name of Bookman. He shall from now on be referred to as Bookman. _

Allen took quiet note of it.

_Lavi is not eating much today…and he's still not talking. God, please, please talk or do something. Stop following me stop following me make some jokes or something smile damn you smile damn you. Oh god, stop it! _

Lavi followed Allen's every move with a sharp glint in his eye. He brushed his hand against Allen's shoulder, feeling him stiffen at the touch, and allowed the hand to curiously stroke back and forth, gripping warmly on the tense muscles. How does the 14th come out or react? What will happen if he puts his hand on top of Allen's head, or grip around his throat?

There was no shame as he thought this, as he looked hard at the tense line of Allen's back, as he heard Link walking beside them, flipping through his files with an important air.

.

Finally, after the silence has dragged on for far too long, Lavi moved, attempting to change it from the stiff discomfort to something more natural. Change their status quo. His arms unclenched and he stroked a hand rhythmically up and down Allen's back. A smooth stroke up, a smooth stroke halfway down, then stopping to concentrate on the dip of his spine, rubbing there. His other hand went up to rest against Allen's neck, pressing and cupping his palm warmly around its curve. There was a steady, dull beat against his palm.

Allen's body, without thinking, curved to rest against Lavi and his hands unclenched, flattening out on Lavi's chest, the right over where his heart was. It was a soothing thump against his palm. He kept his face buried in Lavi's neck, breathing in the scent of sex and sweat.

It was something that felt like comfort.

Lavi hummed lightly, and Allen dozed against the comforting rumble.

.

It was a tension that had taken too long to break. Then, Allen had snapped, pulling Lavi with him and telling Link in a terse voice not to follow them. Link might have protested, but he did not hear it. The door was bolted lock in any case, Allen too impatient and angry and desperate to let anyone disturb them.

Lavi had fallen surprisingly easily to his touch. Perhaps he was desperate for it too, something to take the edge off the tension. Perhaps it was going to be a record that made its way into his books.

.

For now, though, Allen simply blinked lazily as Lavi stopped humming. Lifting his head, he looked up at Lavi sleepily. Lavi blinked down at him and offered a shaky but sincere smile, the first in many days. He moved a hand up to ruffle Allen's hair, a familiar gesture from the days that were better.

"What's gonna happen now, beansprout?" Lavi whispered into the night air. It had taken a while, but finally their worries, their confusion were voiced, brought out from their minds to hang heavy in the air around them.

Allen hummed and traced lazy circles on Lavi's chest. He had thought about it for a long while too. It was not an easy thought to entertain. He could be subjected to a heresy hearing any day, and Lavi might have to be there to record it all as the official Bookman now. Now, more than ever, Lavi's every movement would be tied to his.

He shivered, wondering if he was dreading that prospect. He wondered what prospects he _had_, if indeed there were any.

There really was only one answer though.

"I don't know, Lavi…I guess we'll keep moving forward as we did before. We don't really have a choice."

Lavi smiled and a hint of the usual him came back.

"Sounds like what the beansprout would say indeed!" Was the weakly cheery answer, and Allen smiled against his chest. Allen lifted his head and shifted himself slightly, so he could hover above Lavi's face. He observed the eye (still bright), his lips (a grin had pulled at it, now it softened into an inquiring smile), the flop of red hair that had come undone from his bandana and was now spread on the pillow, soft and fine. Allen smiled and inhaled deeply, imprinting the sight and smell into his head. It was going to be difficult. It was going to be different. Lavi already felt different to him, a presence that was moodier, darker, almost sinister.

But maybe, just maybe, they could pull through it together. They didn't have the best start, but perhaps they could try to change the end. Perhaps they could try to stay themselves, stay sane.

And with that hollow hope in mind, Allen lowered his head.

"It'll be alright." And he touched his lips to Lavi's for the first real kiss that night, feeling Lavi finally relax completely and reciprocate the gesture gratefully.

.

But this is also the short and long of it.

The 14th came a-knocking, and this time, Lavi was there to see it.

.

_The thread has snapped, the players set loose. _

_Keep spinning, spinning, spinning…_

_Out of control, we're__ all..._

_Snap._

**

* * *

**

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Daaaaamn. I thought this collection would be able to stay at a safe 'T'.

So how does this constitute an AU? Excellent question. But honestly, I'm just taking the premise of what we have and twisting it slightly – did Bookman die? Not yet, and maybe he won't even till the end of the series, but he did here. Did the 14th appear again in battle? Not yet, and the likelihood of him appearing again is high, but he certainly did in this mission Allen and Lavi were on.

I know I fail. But well…oh, they don't even have a happy ending. Ambiguous ending, maybe?

First smut scene ever, do you know how long I paused before I typed 'cock'? Long. And then after that everything else was surprisingly smooth. This fandom needs more sex of the messy hips grinding nature. Not that penetration isn't hot, and blowjobs are a wonderful thing and all…

Yes, Allen takes the reins here. Lavi is the more broken one of the two here. And after a terrible span of Lavi following him everywhere he goes, I imagine Allen has the right to do what he wants. It's actually also a reassurance on his part, since he's taking care of Lavi's needs and pleasure and giving Lavi the relaxation he needs, that both of them need actually.

Reviews are muchly appreciated~ Give me the courage to write more sex scenes! XD


	5. This One's For You

**Title**: This One's For You

**Prompt**: Happy Birthday

**Summary**: It is time to celebrate the first birthday of your life.

**Genre**: Romance/General

**Notes**: So sweet I had to brush my teeth after this. I hope this makes you want to avoid sweet things for the rest of the day too!

**Word Count**: 2,365 words

* * *

"It goes like this," Allen said, smiling gently.

Allen smiled wider when he looked out the porch and saw the beautiful day that lay ahead of them. They were both already fully dressed to go out. Lavi fidgeted and waited for Allen to go on. Allen turned and grinned at Lavi.

"First, you need to have a cake." Allen pulled at Lavi's hand and slowly, they headed in the direction of the bakery. Their steps left imprints on the mud, a squelching sound following their progress. Lavi was still a little quiet, and Allen content to let him stay in his own thoughts.

Even when they were on the streets and people openly stared, Allen never let go of Lavi's hand. In fact, he twined their fingers tighter together. Allen hummed as he walked along, pointing out little curiosities along the way. The utterly impractical clothes the ladies wore in summer, and the silly new top hat designs. Lavi smiled as Allen cackled evilly at somebody stumbling out from a pub, drunk in the middle of the day.

_(__Apparently it reminded him of when Cross was so inebriated that Allen had to support him and could gain blackmail material for half a day, a full day if he were lucky.)_

Allen chatted more than usual that day. Lavi silently took note of that. Yet, all the time, the conversation weren't forced like what he would have thought them to be when the boy forced himself to speak more than usual. It was light, truly happy, and Lavi wondered whether that meant Allen was happy to be with him. In contrast, he was much quieter than usual today, but Allen didn't seem to mind.

_(It brought to mind a time when they would be in the cafeteria, Allen listening quietly while Lavi chatted on and on, anything to fill the silence, and Allen's smile would be half strained and Lavi would not want to talk any longer, but had to keep talking because it was what he had been trained to do._

_Perhaps it could be different now.) _

It wasn't long before they were at the bakery, cleaning their boots on the rough mat in front of the shop before entering to the smell of freshly baked bread. The smell was nearly overwhelming, hanging fragrant and heavy on the hot summer air. Allen looked as though he was in heaven. He grinned and tugged Lavi eagerly to the glass pane, through which they could see the selection of cakes.

"Look, Lavi," Allen whispered, excitement in his voice as if he were a child again. "They have all sorts of flavours. You can get any you like!"

Lavi smiled softly in the face of the boy's excitement. "What do you like, Allen?"

_(__He remembered the last time Allen had asked that very same question. "What do you like to eat, Lavi?" A curious Allen had asked, and that question threw Lavi off from the inane chatter of just now. _

"_What?" _

"_Well…you've been going on about the things you saw and did, but really, I hardly know anything about you. So…what do you like to eat?" _

"_I, uh…I guess…roast beef?" _

_And that simple answer managed to make Allen smile more sincerely than any of his previous jokes could have ever hoped to.)_

"Eh? Oh, don't think about what I like. It's your cake, you should get what you like!"

"Please tell me?" Lavi said. Allen looked up sharply at the note of uncertainty in his voice and scrutinized Lavi carefully, eyes full of concern.

"Lavi…?" Allen shifted closer, ignoring the questioning glances sent their way from the other customers. Lavi smiled and leaned closer as well.

"I'm alright, Allen. I just want to know what type of cake you like. It's sad if I know everything about you and your history, but nothing about what you like, right?" He grinned reassuringly as Allen laughed lightly.

"Well, you know I can eat almost anything, but I _am_ partial to vanilla and strawberry." Lavi examined the two cakes in question. Almost as an afterthought, he noticed that the vanilla cake was the cheapest the store had to offer.

_A clown and his child probably could not afford much after all_, Lavi thought with a pang in his heart. He looked at the strawberry cake, which was only slightly more expensive. _Those must have been for the special occasions_.

Allen grinned as he examined the other cakes. "Ooooh, look, they have a triple chocolate cake. And look at the decorations they can do these days!" Allen marvelled at the miniature animals on top of a cake, his eyes alight with the simple joy of choosing a cake with his friend. He cooed at some of the other cakes on display, making Lavi chuckle. He really can eat almost anything, he was besotted with all the cakes that were on display, down to the weirdest flavours. Really, papaya cake?

_(__It wasn't the first time._

"_Really, Allen, durians?" Lavi said, looking at said fruit with a highly skeptical air. _

"_It's good!" Allen declared. "Jeryy said they're from Asia, and they taste absolutely delish! Here, try some." Allen thrust his hand out at Lavi, who cringed away from the smell. _

"_I'd really rather not, Allen…" Lavi backed away nervously as Allen narrowed his eyes in a predatory way. _

_He really should have expected it when Allen practically flew towards him, pushing the fruit in his face and he was spluttering and Allen was laughing and the whole place was a mess…)_

Lavi smiled fondly and brought his mind back to the present, tuning back in to Allen's babbles about the cakes. "I've decided, Allen," Lavi said quietly, effectively making Allen whip his face around to look expectantly at Lavi. Lavi smiled and stood up straight, pulling Allen up as well. He gestured to the lady behind the counter.

"The vanilla-strawberry cake, please," Lavi said, smiling charmingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Allen's surprised expression.

"Certainly, sir," the lady said graciously and began to pack the cake. Allen tugged on Lavi's hand and hissed into his ear.

"Didn't I tell you to choose one which you liked? You didn't get that just because I said I like those flavours, did you?" Allen's eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

"I did just that, actually," Lavi said cheerfully.

"Lavi! That won't make me happy!" Allen said frantically.

"Oh…but it will make me happy."

Allen stilled at the words and shot Lavi a questioning look. Lavi smiled and turned to face Allen fully, making sure to look into his eyes while talking.

"Today's my birthday, Allen. And it'll make me happy if we can both have something we enjoy. Or are you saying you don't want me to be happy?" Lavi pouted and tilted his head to the side, like how a puppy would cock its head. Allen flushed and punched Lavi in the chest with his free hand.

_(Lavi had done that before, too. _

"_Lavi!" Allen shouted, running down the corridor after him, face having a pinched look. Lavi mused that perhaps Allen was angry. _

"_Oh, I am angry alright," Allen snapped when he reached Lavi's side, and Lavi blanched at having voiced the thought out loud. "You said you had Bookman's permission to take me away to do some work, and then just now Bookman right out scolded you! What the hell, Lavi, I don't want you to do those sort of things! Anyway, Link won't be fooled again!" Allen said in a low voice, still looking pissed off. _

_Gently, Lavi pulled on Allen's wrist and said simply, "It made you happy, didn't it?" _

_Allen looked flustered. "What?" He said, more confused than angry now. _

"_It made me happy that we could both relax for a while, even while we did have to do paperwork. At least we could do it together, right? I'm happy that you were relaxed. Or are you saying, you weren't happy with me?" _

_Lavi tilted his head to the side and looked at Allen imploringly. In the face of Lavi's pouting countenance__, Allen could only scowl and look to the side. _

"_Idiot Lavi," he muttered, and Lavi beamed brightly. _

_Perhaps it was then that it all started. The messy business of liking somebody.)_

"Idiot Lavi," he muttered. Lavi grinned in victory. The lady brought his order up to him, and Lavi paid before smiling graciously once more and pulling Allen to exit the bakery, with his other hand holding the package carefully.

They headed home, and this time a comfortable, peaceful quiet settled over both of them.

.

"Next," Allen said back in their room. "You get some candles. The number of candles for the age you'll be turning." Allen rummaged through his pockets and took out the packet of candles he'd been holding onto for a while now.

"I counted," he said with an impish grin when Lavi looked at him with surprise. "There should be twenty one candles in there."

Lavi laughed. "Just how long were you planning this for, Allen Walker?" He settled onto the bed as Allen carefully took the candles out of the bag, counting again just to be sure. Allen laughed as he counted the candles.

"Oh, long enough, Lavi, long enough."

Finally convinced that he had the right number, he gestured Lavi forward to the small table where the cake laid. Pointing at the little stubs, Allen taught him to place the candles inside those little candle holders, making sure they were secure before he planted them into the soft surface of the cake. Lavi carefully did as he was told, though he placed the candles haphazardly. It ended with Allen's side of the cake in neatly spaced columns and his half of the cake looking like it belonged to a connect-the-dots game. Allen laughed delightedly.

_(Last time, it was Mana doing what Allen did while Allen did what Lavi was now doing. And Allen smiled at the fond memories, and at how they were making more memories to add to their life stories.)_

"It doesn't matter. Next, you need to light the candles…"

With a fond smile, both of them directed their gaze to a small hammer that lay on the bedside table. It cannot be used now, but it always reminded them of how lucky they were through all these years.

_(Oozuchi Kouzuchi was a good friend throughout it all, to his wielder, to his friends. It could rest now.)_

Allen grinned and this time pulled a matchstick box out of his pocket. Expertly, he slid it open and handed Lavi a stick. Sure, it wasn't the same thing, Lavi thought as he struck the match. But it sure did bring back some memories of wielding the giant hammer. Carefully, he lit two candles and blew the stick out. They then commandeered a candle each, carefully lighting the rest up before planting the candles back.

Lavi leaned back, admiring the pretty picture the cake made, twenty one candles burning cheerily on top of white and pink. Allen smiled. "The candles will melt soon, you know."

"What next, then?"

Allen smiled. "I sing 'Happy Birthday', of course." Allen then took Lavi's hand and looking straight into his eye, he started singing softly to him. Lavi held his breath as those beautiful eyes captured his and shone with quiet joy.

"_Happy Birthday to Y__ou-"_

_("Happy Birthday, Allen." The man said on a cold winter's day.)_

"_-Happy Birthday to Y__ou-"_

_("What is a birthday, gramps?" The boy asked and received no answer.)_

"_-__Happy Birthday Dear Lavi…"_

_(Mana laughed as Allen inexpertly cut the cake and gave a messy slice to him.)_

"_Happy Birthday to Y__ou…"_

_("We don't have birthdays, that's what gramps said," Lavi said quietly to a wide-eyed Allen, who clenched the material of his coat at his chest fiercely by the time Lavi was done with the explanation of the Bookmen._

_That was then. Thousands of memories flashing through the mind's eye, laughter and tears and pain and lonely silence._

_Now…)_

Their noses were brushing by then, and Allen closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against Lavi's. Lavi gripped Allen's hand tighter, as the candles burned merrily behind them.

"And now," Allen whispered, eyes still closed. "My favourite part. You will make a wish, Lavi. Here," he slowly pulled away from Lavi and unclasped their hands. "You put your hands together and wish with all your heart for something, anything. Don't say it out though, or it won't come true. Close your eye."

Lavi bowed his head and thought hard.

The Millennium Earl is gone, so he didn't have to wish for that.

The soldiers of the terrible war have been released, so he didn't have to wish for their freedom.

He was a historian, but Bookmen were no more. They have changed.

Komui, Lenalee, Kanda, Krory, Miranda, Chaoji, the Science Department, the thousands upon thousands of Finders, they were all leading happy lives now.

Allen is with him, beside him, and will always be with him.

Only one thing left to wish for.

_I wish things will never change. __Please, God, let things never change. _

Allen instinctively knew when he was done. "Now, you blow out the candles, all in one breath, mind you. Hold onto the wish," he said gently.

Opening his eye, Lavi leaned forward and blew out all the candles steadily. They went out without any struggle, and soon the cake's pristine white and pink could be seen without the interference of flames. He looked at the cake for a while before turning to the person beside him.

Allen smiled proudly and looped his arms around Lavi's back, leaning forward to bump noses with him. His eyes were mischievous and loving all at the same time. "And that, Lavi, is how you celebrate a birthday."

He swooped in for the kiss. Allen smiled and pressed back, keeping the kiss chaste and sweet. They parted after a short while, Lavi's bright green staring down into the soft gray of his lover's.

"Happy Birthday, Lavi," Allen whispered, and as Lavi hugged him he hoped with all his heart that his wish will be forever fulfilled.

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

I wanted to write something completely angsty. Then Lavi changed my course by insisting that his birthday should actually be, you know, _celebrated_ and not carried on an angst parade.

How this came about…Lavi has never celebrated a birthday before, and I don't think he had any cause to while he was a Bookman Apprentice. Even after becoming an Exorcist, and even if the Order throws birthday parties, I'm not sure if he would have gotten the true spirit of birthdays.

Allen shows him that on his twenty-first, his first birthday after the end of the war, when his life truly begins.

Shit, Allen, you're turning me into an utter sap.

Reviews are much appreciated~ And Happy Birthday, Lavi, you sexy red-headed devil you!


	6. Such A Lovely Place

**Title**: Such A Lovely Place

**Prompt**: Caged

**Summary**: Humanity is ugly, and it always will be.

**Genre**: Angst/Humour

**Notes**: I promised myself I'd do something utterly cynical and fucked up. Welcome to the world of Allen Walker's mind.

**Word Count**: 717 words

* * *

We're trapped in the mosh pit of bodies, and he is grinning salaciously at me. Typical nightclub, typical pretty girls, all made-up and flashing skin and hoping to gain the appreciative glances of men. Typical rock music, typical handsome men, all dressed up and dancing and hoping to woo the girls over with their slick moves.

Sickening. Fascinating. Perhaps I should base my thesis on this.

The Grinding Machine: Humanity As Observed Through The Local Night Scene

Written by Allen Walker.

Heh, awesome, isn't it? Sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.

But can't forget, can't forget, I'm one of them people. Drinking my way till dawn, stumbling out piss drunk, and possibly throwing up all over the place. If I'm unlucky some bastard will try to rape me, but nah, the police will be all over the place, trying to prevent that exact thing from happening. Pitiful underpaid people, believing they are furthering the betterment of humankind.

What was I talking about again? Oh right, the guy.

So, right, let me tell you, he's dancing there, a pretty girl wound around him (I dunno what she looks like, just look at every other girl around the place, you'll get it) and my god, are they grinding their hips together! Typical sex on hardwood, yeah? Only truly grotesque. There's like, no style. So anyway, there he is with the full attention of this girl, and he turns to me and wink. Wink! Really, there is such a thing as not being able to catch up with the times, winking is old, young man. Who winks these days to get the attention of others, eh?

So I sort of surmise that from the way he's looking over at me, he might be gay or bi, which I'm all open to. Hey, sex is sex, right? We're all here for that. And woah, if he's getting hard not because of that girl but because of me, then what am I still sitting here for? He's pretty hot too, I could have done worse.

The bartender is leering at me but sorry man, there's a hot bod waiting for me. He kinda pushes the girl away and she huffs and immediately clings to the next hot guy that comes along, some long ponytail hair freak. And what do you guess they do? Bingo, they start grinding their hips together. So that man with the wild red hair grabs me and I think he tries to do the same thing. Hah, idiot! I push him away and damn, he sure does look frustrated at that.

"Thought you were interested!" He shouts over the thumping beats, still keeping his grin and I allow a smirk to steal over my face.

"But I am," I say back, not bothering to shout and he frowns a little, probably confused at what I was saying.

And then, I move closer to him and we _dance_.

Dance, yes, that's right, we dance. With style. And jazz. It really is not difficult. You just need a sense of rhythm and there we have it from the bass. Step close, brush fingers lightly, spin, twirl, sashay your body up and down, and there we go, a guy much hotter than he would have been if we had simply just grinded. He is looking really horny now.

And I guess if I'm being true with myself, I am a little too. So this time, properly, he grabs me and plants his nose into my neck. And this time when he speaks I can hear him loud and clear.

"I like you, you're cute."

_Awwww_, isn't that _sweet_? But I guess I can indulge him.

"You're sweet, too," I say into his ear and he laughs and laughs, then starts dragging me to a dark corner so we can do what we came here for.

And since we're here in this pit of bodies, what else better to do?

What, you ask what I came here for? Don't give me that disappointed look like you have more morals than me.

Sheesh, isn't it obvious?

Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.

You know which one we all are. Yes, _we_, you too, don't forget it.

Me. You. Him. Her. Them. Us.

All of fucking humanity.

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Yaaaay. I did it. I finally have a piece which I'm quite happy with.

Background on their world – Allen is a university student, Lavi is probably thereabouts as well, or working, you can take your pick. Modern world AU, they meet in a nightclub. The dankest pit of humanity in my opinion, there are no brains working there. And so if you want to see where 'Caged' is in this prompt – their minds? The physical entrapment? The never ending faux happiness? Pick your poison.

Allen can be a pretty cynical bastard, considering what he went through in canon history. Pre-Mana, Post-Mana, Post-Cross. I love the little bastard. Oh hey, Lavi here is actually pretty normal – he is just out to have fun (and sex), and he meets Allen here.

Some lines shamelessly stolen from Hotel California, which is by **The Eagles**. And yeah, it totally suits the prompt. I LOVE this prompt.

Reviews muchly appreciated~ (And now, on to actually working on the last two prompts.)


	7. In This Place And Time

**Title**: In This Place And Time

**Prompt**: Memories

**Summary**: What do you do in the present when you have seen what the past was and what the future will hold?

**Genre**: Romance/Friendship

**Notes**: My way of tying up everything that had happened in the past six chapters. Enjoy!

**Word Count**: 2,298 words

* * *

_We are the holders of lifetimes of memories. _

.

"Lavi," Allen said softly. He was staring out at the wide expanse of sky before him. The snow fell steadily into the courtyard, painting the still world a pure white. It seemed almost sacrilegious for the boy to break the silence, so he had done so in the quietest way possible. A mere whisper into the cold, sharp air, his breath coming out in puffs before him. The mist quickly dissipated just as it appeared. For one moment, smiling, he could imagine that part of him became the world, and the world him, as he breathed in his next breath, delighting in the cold that stung his throat.

Beside him, a taller boy sat on the same wooden porch, staring out into the same expanse of white. He tilted his head slightly, indicating that he had heard his name being called, but otherwise remained silent. A familiar bright orange scarf was wrapped snugly around his neck. When no reply came forth, he simply looked up at the sky from which the snow was falling in slow, steady flakes, content to let the boy speak at his own time.

The silence hung between them, quietly buzzing with a question waiting to be asked. Allen lifted both his ungloved hands and studied them side by side, looking at the harsh rough red juxtaposed against pale skin. He wondered what would happen if…

He stretched his right hand across the space between them. Lavi only observed his move out of the corner of his eye and let his left hand stay still on the wooden floor. The hand hesitated and slowed, before returning to its owner's side.

Lavi imagined that he felt disappointed at that, but he shrugged it off. He was numb with cold, numb with the apathy that was filling him. An age-old defense mechanism.

Allen continued looking out at the white world, breathing out slowly. He was taking his time indeed to choose his words carefully. The fragile silence between them and the fragile white world would not be able to withstand the serenity breaking harshly from meaningless words.

"Lavi…what do you know about past and future lives?" Allen asked softly.

Lavi frowned thoughtfully at the question. It was not one in which he learnt nothing, but the onset of the question, the timing of it, the situation in which Allen asked it…in this quiet setting, in this dreamy way. He wondered what he was up to. How long had he been thinking about it?

He could answer in the technical way Bookman chooses to do things, like when he was comforting Doug in that odd way of his, telling him not to be attached lest his heart hurts. Entirely sensible and detached advice.

But not for Allen. Never for Allen.

"Well…the Buddhists believe that our souls are reincarnated endlessly until we reach true enlightenment. We will have no memories of our past, no vision of our future, we will only know our present, but our souls will remember everything," Lavi said gently. Allen smiled at that answer. There was a hint of relief in his smile, as if he was hoping for such an answer.

"I always thought I had to believe in a God who would grant us heaven," Allen said. He turned his face skyward, and Lavi followed his gaze to trace the still-falling snow. Lavi grinned lightly at the thought that Lveille would slaughter them now if he caught them talking like this. Absolutely blasphemy. Because believing in reincarnation is such a heretic act against the Christian God and his followers. Lavi scoffed lightly but gave Allen a reassuring smile when Allen turned his head slightly to face him.

"And you don't believe in such a God now?" He asked.

Allen hummed thoughtfully. "The God for the Buddhists, if there is one, is a much more sensible one then. Our God has abandoned us. Look at the world He left us in. And all the people that will go to hell sometimes because of things they did not do. Or simply because they do not believe in Him. But reincarnation…our souls will learn much more then, won't it? And we will have happiness in some lives, and utter tragedy in others. That makes sense."

To Lavi's surprise, there was no hint of bitterness that accompanied Allen's words. Only quiet acceptance and a little smile that spoke of experience. Lavi mulled over it for a little while, his eye, as it always tended to when he was thinking deeply over things, glazed over slightly.

It disturbed him slightly, the way Allen was talking about this and smiling in a way that suggested he knew much, much more than he let on. It reminded Lavi of the strange dreams, even stranger visions that he had had. There was so much unknown, almost unbearable to one who is to become a Bookman. The Earl's aims. The future of the world. The Noah in Allen who remains ever mysterious, ever powerful. But maybe he is not malicious, perhaps he is simply guiding Allen, simply teaching, simply existing, simply yearning to exist…

As if Allen had heard his thoughts, he turned slightly to face Lavi and smiled.

"I am the Noah of Time, Lavi," he said simply, and he closed his eyes.

Lavi was stunned for a while. A sudden silence descended upon them. The snow kept falling, accenting the silence as it fell without sound and form, only disappearing into the long expanse of white. Allen opened his eyes and looked at Lavi calmly, and that shook Lavi out of his reverie.

There was a knowledge that Allen possessed before the Bookmen did. Lavi didn't quite know what to say.

"You…know? For certain?"

"He told me. Came to me in some sort of dream. Probably imagined himself as some-" Allen chuckled "-some prince in a fairytale saving the princess. You know, telling the truth and all, if you don't return before midnight the coach will turn back into a pumpkin, that kind of advice. Kinda wish I could see him face to face, so I can punch his face in. He sure took his time telling things, he probably enjoyed tormenting me."

Lavi laughed lightly and nodded, accepting the trust that Allen gave in telling him this. It was something that was not going to make its way into the records, no matter what the old man said, no matter how closely Lveille is breathing over the Black Order. He thought for a little while and felt Allen's calm gaze on him as he did so.

"But how do you _know_? He told you, yes, but how are you certain?" Lavi said, allowing some worry to enter his voice for his friend. His friend who he knew did not trust easily, so how would he trust an entity that seemed to threaten his very identity?

Allen laughed and shook his head fondly at the boy. Lavi felt a little insulted by the laughter, but it died down soon enough and Allen just grinned at him in a happy, carefree way.

"You want to know, Lavi?" He said with a little note of warning in his voice, telling him that if he really did want to know, things might change between them, with a secret of a monumental nature spilled. Lavi swallowed and nodded. The seconds dragged on between them as Allen considered Lavi's answer. He finally nodded though, and Lavi felt his breath being caught at the sight before him.

Allen was concentrating, his eyes closed and his aura calm and concentrated around him, encasing his body in tight waves. If Lavi had reached out, it would have felt like rapidly flowing water, warm and smooth and it would not hurt, but it would have made him breathe faster from the flow, from the way Allen himself did not change but some physical properties of him did, his hair, the beat of his heart, the skin…

Oh, the skin.

From the pale, almost unhealthy glean it had been before, it was slowly turning before his eye into an ash gray. Yet it was a clean, smooth transformation, and his hair remained white, creating a strange addition to the white and gray world they were in. Allen seemed to literally blend into the surroundings, and Lavi couldn't help but reach towards him to ensure that he was still there.

Allen opened golden eyes and caught the hand before it reached his face, and instantly Lavi was struck by a flow of images, all as gentle as they could be, but still overwhelming for his human brain.

"_I'm serious this time! I assure you, it's one of the nicest things Japan has to offer, okay? And-"_

_-t__he Millennium Earl is gone, so he didn't have to wish for that. The soldiers of the terrible war have been released-_

"_-countless fans surrounding them everyday, we are just one of the many who like them-"_

"_-gonna happen now, beanspro-__"_

_-__a small hospital, walls painted a bright yellow in an attempt to cheer the patients up-_

_-__and he laughs and laughs, then starts dragging me to a dark corner so we can do what we came here for-_

"_-__we'll keep moving forward as we did before-"_

"_-__eat your icky medicine and then we can go-"_

_-__he picked up the skewer and continued eating, returning his gaze to the ever-moving crowd-_

_-__the boy strutted down the stage, crooning out the words and smiling devilishly at the crowd-_

_-all of fucking humanity-_

_-h__e was becoming jerky, restless-_

"_-__you blow out the candles, all in one breath, mind you. Hold onto the wish-"_

"_-q__uick, make a wish!"_

"_-I'm glad I have you, beansprout-"_

_-be nice if we could have a world like the little prince's- _

_-__smiled and pressed back, keeping the kiss chaste and sweet-_

"_-I'm glad you're here too, Lavi."_

_I'm glad. _

Lavi gasped as he jerked forward, losing his balance. He had a splitting headache, centuries of lives running through his head at the same time, all clamouring for attention. Always a green eye, sometimes sad, sometimes laughing, sometimes apathetic, staring back at him. And a pair of gray eyes joined it, dancing in mischief and sorrow and fury and happiness. And here, before him, Allen changed back from ash gray to pale beige, his grip still warm on Lavi's hand. Lavi realized belatedly and blearily that it was Allen's left gripping his hand, the rough texture strangely comforting.

"Al…Allen?" Lavi said weakly, his free hand cradling his head. Allen shifted closer and kept smiling, a little sadly now.

"That's us, Lavi," Allen said softly, his right hand reaching up to stroke Lavi's cheek. "That's us, all of us, however ugly and stupid and carefree they were…they're all of us. And you could see…the technology in some, and, well, the lack of it in others…they're not now, they're then and what will be, they're us."

"But, what…what does this mean for us?" Lavi said, confused and not unafraid. It's only supposed to be a theory, a way of life some people believe in, nobody should have seen it, it can't come to life in practice. It's wrong, it's completely against what the Bookmen do, and yet, it was so real, he could feel himself crying and laughing and teasing and hurting in all of them, they were all him, they called to him.

It's hard to prove the existence or lack of a God, but this, this, surreal and painful as it was, it was real.

Allen sensed his fear and scooted closer, and Lavi wasted no time in immediately wrapping his arms around his friend, neutrality and apprenticeship be damned. He found his hiding place in Allen's neck, burying his face into the warm skin there and vaguely feeling himself tremble in uncertainty. Never before had he seen such things.

"Nothing really changes, Lavi," Allen said soothingly. "We're still ourselves, our lives will be as they were before. This sickening never-ending life with the stupid Central and the stalker Noahs and the many suffering akuma. And Komui with his sister complex, and Kanda will forever be a bastard anyway." Lavi laughed slightly at the thought of Kanda never changing, forever being reincarnated with a stick so far up his ass that Buddha has given up on changing him.

"Allen, we were…" Lavi said hesitantly and Allen put some distance between them, looking at Lavi firmly.

"We were what we could be, but we still are what we are, it's all…up to us what happens," Allen said simply, and before Lavi could reply he moved back into the embrace, arms squeezing Lavi tightly. Lavi felt bone-weary, and safe, and so tired, he just settled into the warmth and dropped his head onto Allen's shoulder.

The snow continued to fall gently, continuing to shroud the world in an ever-white blanket, sending all the world's inhabitants to sleep. Lavi imagined, if he stayed there with Allen for a long while, soon they will just be part of the background, they'll be breathing in the world, and a little bit of them will be the world every time they breathe out.

They will exist in never-ending circles, and cycles, and this world is one of their tests. They had worse, they will have better, but they have to get through this first.

Maybe they could get through this together.

"Allen…" Lavi said softly and Allen smiled and nodded against his shoulder.

"Perhaps we can create our own happy ending, Lavi," Allen said with a grin and Lavi chuckled, already having expected the answer. He lifted his head. Allen smiled and moved closer.

And the snow continued to fall, beckoning them into a gentle world of rest and peace.

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Noah of Time is something I thought would be cool, as one who can see lifetimes of memories, even in other places. That's how Allen knew about all the things that have been and could be. So when he chose to, he let flow the memories he has to Lavi which caused the influx of all the snippets he saw. Yep, the snippets are from the previous six chapters (:

Absolutely no offense is meant to Christians, Buddhists, and people of any other religion. This is simply my version of how Allen would think had all of these happened.

The part about Doug and Bookman came from the novel. Reverse Novel II, to be accurate.

Reviews are loved~ Thank you if you've read this far, and especial thanks if you've reviewed! One more chapter, and this will wrap up!


	8. It's A Wrap!

**Title**: It's A Wrap!

**Prompt**: Finishing

**Summary**: In a rare show of brattiness, Allen complains about the amount of sex they had had, while Lavi complains about the too-few rounds of sex they have had. Lenalee and Miranda fondly recall the past week, and Kanda just really wants to get the hell out of here. Krory observes how people interact and sees that the world is a strange place indeed.

**Genre**: General/Humour

**Notes**: Look for your names, all Allen/Lavi week participants! If I forgot anyone, my deepest apologies, I had to rush this and now I need to run to school! This is purely for fun, all jokes are not meant to offend, especially to Allen/Kanda, Allen/Lavi, and Kanda/Lavi shippers. I'm just poking fun at everyone, really, and that includes me. If you don't understand some stuff in here, well…they are references to many other stories, so go read all the Allen/Lavi week entries! This is my way of saying thanks for this wonderful week (:

**Word Count**: 4,144 words

* * *

"Alright," Allen said in a brisk manner as he walked into the room. "Time to take stock."

The room was simple, with several couches surrounding a small table, and random chairs scattered around the room. On one of the couches sat a certain familiar redhead, his arms resting comfortably on the back of the couch. Lenalee sipped her tea delicately on the other couch, and Kanda sat on the last couch grumpily. In a corner of the room, Komui was arguing in low tones with an increasingly impatient Reever. While still nervous, Miranda was slowly gaining more in confidence as she talked to Krory, Marie and several Finders about her latest mission. Taking another quick scan of the room, Allen finally found Bookman as well, who was sitting in another corner nursing a cup of tea.

Assured that everybody was there, Allen headed to the couch where Lavi was sat and sank into the soft couch cushions, groaning in relief. Lavi immediately dropped his left arm and hugged Allen around the shoulders.

"You look tired, Allen," Lavi said cautiously. Allen could blow up any time these days from the immense amount of pressure they've undergone.

Allen sighed. "What do you expect, Lavi, after all we've been through?

Lenalee giggled though her eyes were sympathetic. "You have to admit, though, that this week has certainly been…interesting." Kanda let out a loud growl at that.

"Seeing the two of you paw at each other every single minute of the day. My god, how sickening."

Allen glared at Kanda. "Shut up, Kanda! God, you weren't even in the scenes much, you were just supposed to be invisible and destructive. Now if you will kindly _shut the fuck up_ while we take stock so as to conclude this properly."

There was an awed silence as Allen glared murderously in Kanda's direction. Lavi could only squeeze Allen's shoulder reassuringly. Kanda stood up menacingly and moved to draw Mugen out, only to be stopped by Lenalee's infamous clipboard slap.

"Allen is right, you know," she said, frowning prettily as Komui cheered for his 'awesome, brave, precious LENALEE~'. "We weren't even made to do much, the very least we could do is help with the finale."

With an irritated 'che' ("Don't you make any other sound, Ba-Kanda?" Allen muttered under his breath so only Lavi could hear), Kanda settled back down.

"Right, so," Allen picked up the papers and flipped through them. "Apparently, over the course of the first day, we've been to two different places in America, two different places in England, France, Japan, Indonesia and two more unknown locations. Add to that tally a hospital, an apartment, two festivals, a random room and even an event in Headquarters. Rare, that. Total cost, Komui?"

"Well," Komui pushed his spectacles up. "Considering the restrictions the Vatican placed on the usage of the Ark, and how much paperwork we had to fill-" ("YOU didn't fill anything, superior," Reever accused.) "-and the number of guards we had to bribe, I'd say the amount comes up to…"

For the sake of Allen's sanity, the cost had to be censored.

"RIGHT," he said loudly. Then, grimacing, he continued. "That's not the worst bit of it. Apparently Lavi babbled on about Ancient Greece and homosexuality while we were in bed and we had to take several shoots of that to get the mood right. Not to mention the amount of times when Lavi veered off track." Allen suddenly broke out of cost calculation. "And what the hell, why are you the older, more experienced one? I'll have you know that on my travels with that bastard Cross, I…" Allen turned slightly green. "God, the things I saw."

"What things?" Lavi was extremely interested now, a glint in his eyes.

"Nevermind," Allen muttered, looking down at the next item and grimacing. "Costs for…a rented beach house, countless packets of flour, sugar, milk, bacon, eggs, pancakes, syrup…food stuff, basically, and…uh…silk ties, a dog collar, lubrication and a huge bed? Komui?"

"How dare you ask that in front of my lovely, pure, virginal, precious Lenalee!" Komui shrieked.

"Well, apparently the lovely pure virginal Lenalee was also married to me and having an affair with Yuu-chan at the same time, so she's not exactly pure anymore, is she?" Lenalee blushed at that. Komui made a despairing noise. Kanda attempted to attack Lavi at the use of an inappropriate name but was restrained by Marie. Allen sighed.

"Not to mention Lenalee had a nosebleed once every day for the past eight days. The head nurse had a field day with that. She demands compensation for overtime unnecessary work and is looking to punish me and Lavi for any small reason. It's not even our damn fault we had to have so much sex!"

Lavi's eye glazed over at that. "Ah, yes, eight days of bliss…"

"Actually," Allen flipped through his papers again, frowning. "We had to have sex six times in the first day, once in daytime in an apartment where apparently it is so unsatisfying that after that I proceeded to have a fight with a sakura tree. And five times at night. First incident is when you tied me up for BDSM. Second incident where apparently we won against the Earl, nothing terrifies me anymore after the big battle, it's my first time and so we had sex four times that night. So did Lenalee nosebleed six times in that day too? Fuck, I'm sore. You owe me for this, Lavi."

Lavi looked at him thoughtfully. "If I let you top…"

Allen smiled sweetly. "Eight days? And six times on the first day?"

Lavi blanched and turned away, trying to ignore the snickering (and in some cases, intrigued blushes) coming from various corners of the room. "Right, moving on?"

Allen cleared his throat. "Right, Miranda, could you tell us how many times you had to activate your Innocence in the first day?"

Miranda, startled at being suddenly addressed, stood up suddenly. "Ah! Well, um, the two of you had to be in four different places in the afternoon, so that's about, um, three times for that, and about six different places at night, so that's five times, and once more for an unknown time where the two of you 'died'…um…the total is nine times?"

Allen sighed heavily. "Damn you and your libido, Lavi," he muttered.

"Hey! It takes two hands to clap, you know, we would have done nothing without your sex drive too!"

"Too much information!" Reever hollered from across the room, sounding like he had been restraining it for a while, and several people nodded in agreement though Lenalee still looked far too interested.

"We have no choice, it's not like we told them to write it like that," Allen groaned, tugging at Lavi's arm so it hugged him more. "Damn, I've lost count of how many times I 'lost' my virginity."

"Twice in the first day," Lavi chirped and Allen slapped him on the arm for that.

Kanda suddenly stood up, apparently having had enough of this. "Why the fuck am I still here?"

"Actually," Lavi interrupted before Allen could blow up again. "We need all the major players here to evaluate this week to see the possible costs we will need to cover for other similar weeks, as well as to see the effect this week had and whether we can increase the positive effect so as to earn more sponsorship for the Order. All in all, it's supposed to work out for our benefit." Lavi sank back into the couch after that and hugged Allen tighter.

Komui cleared his throat. "What he said. Apparently, there will be a week for you and Allen as well-" He was cut off by a synchronized chorus of unimpressed 'WHAT?'s from the lovebirds on the couch and a seething Japanese man. Komui clicked his tongue. "Quiet, you guys. As I was saying, there is a likelihood where the two of you will have to, uh, perform for another week."

"What the hell!" Kanda said in fury. Allen and Lavi looked similarly disgusted.

"What will it even be called anyway?" Lenalee said, unphased.

"Well," Krory put in thoughtfully, "Allen's and Lavi's week was called 'Laven' week, right? So it might be a mesh-up of their names?"

"But 'Laven', well…no offense, but it sounds silly. Like 'laving', or something, it doesn't sound particularly like anything," Marie put in quietly.

"Fans like it," Lenalee said brightly. "I suspect for Allen and Kanda it will be 'Yullen', or something."

"Wait," Allen cut in forcefully. "Why the hell is it always my name that is behind? That makes me look the weak one in a relationship, or something. Why not 'Alvi' or something, ghastly as that sounds?"

Lenalee gave Allen a pitying look. "Oh, Allen, you don't understand. Well, 'Alvi' just sounds like two letters together, you know, like 'L' and 'V'. Not aesthetic at all, no? And apparently you're the girly one of the relationship."

"Like hell I am!" Allen said, manners all but forgotten. He was leaning forward now, glaring at those who gave him utterly surprised looks. "What the hell made you guys think that!"

People exchanged glances. They looked everywhere but at Allen. Lavi stayed wisely quiet.

Lenalee cleared her throat. "So, um, brother! Will there be a Lavi and Kanda week as well?" Her voice was very bright.

"Why are you guys ignoring-"

"Why yes, my dear Lenalee! Fans are clamouring for Kanda and Lavi to be put together too, so the chances of a 'LaviYuu' week are high."

"Wait a minute," Allen successfully cut in again, his face unimpressed. "Am I given to believe that Lavi and Kanda will not have their names meshed up?"

And Kanda finally recovered from his stupor. "And why the hell is everyone calling me that!" He said, referring to his given name which he absolutely hated.

"Well, given the brevity of their first names, it is difficult to find a clever way to mesh up their names," Komui said brightly. "The only possible exception is 'Yuvi', but that sounds silly as well, because like my dear precious Lenalee said, it sounds like 'U' and 'V' and not actually their names, no?"

"You're still not answering me," Kanda snarled.

"KandaLavi?" Krory wondered.

"LaviKanda?" Was a meek suggestion from Johnny.

"Kanvi…"

"Landa…"

"Layuu…"

"Uhm," Lavi put in meekly as the names got more and more atrocious. "Not to rain on your parade and all, but the only reason I was willing to do this week was because I'm actually, you know, _in love_ with Allen? And not with Kanda? And I'm pretty sure Allen hates Kanda's guts, yes? So there's no way we'll do weeks with other people. You can't make us."

Allen and Kanda nodded strongly, for once in agreement with the other.

Komui only replied with an ever-widening smirk, the infamous mad scientist laugh bubbling to his lips. Reever noticed and quickly pulled him away to a corner to quell any dastardly ideas he had. From their corner drifted noises that sounded suspiciously like 'love potions', but that was ridiculous, right?

Lenalee sighed and turned back to focus on the actual work they had to do. "So, what were the other problems for this week? We can cover costs later when brother is back."

"Well," Allen said thoughtfully. "The Ocean day was good, we pretty much just stayed at the same beach, no matter what the scenario was. It was pretty fine," Allen shrugged and looked at Lavi enquiringly.

Lavi raised his hand. "Right, apparently there is a lot of confusion over whether I have use of both eyes or not. I had to keep checking whether or not it said 'eye' or 'eyes' before I removed my eyepatch. It's getting tiresome."

"Well," Lenalee said thoughtfully, "considering that in some of the alternate universes you had perfect use of both eyes, I suppose it is a common enough problem…" She scribbled down some notes. Before she could ask another question, Allen immediately spoke up.

"Yes, yes, there's something. Apparently, Ba-Kanda here," he shot a glare at Kanda at this point, prompting another 'che' back, "got it into his head that I will eat grubs. What the hell is up with that? At least I got to eat hamburgers during that silly American football game."

"Well, given that the prompt was 'culture', you have to expect that people can interpret it however they wish, and that was simply a case of interpretation which we have to accept," Lenalee said reasonably, her head cocked to the side. "Jeryy was delighted to supply it too, apparently it was a challenge to him."

"How was it a challenge? He just had to supply it."

"He had to try not to cook it." Lenalee's face was very serious.

Allen was utterly gobsmacked. Lavi took that opportunity to pull him back to snuggle against contentedly. Lenalee hummed and continued taking notes. Kanda, irritated, stalked off to sit near towards the person who would infuriate him the least, meaning Marie. The general feeling of tentative peace and 'this is going to be over soon' descended upon the room until Lenalee had to dash their hopes.

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" She said suddenly. "The Finders controlling the golems were complaining about you, Lavi."

"What!" Lavi squawked. "But why!"

"Remember," she said very seriously, "there was a writer who cleverly interpreted 'new day' as 'nude day'? Well, there were a lot of scenes where you nearly walked into where I was sitting, and they had to take several shots of that. Doug complained that the golems were getting overworked."

"I can't control having a hot body. I mean, that's why the golems were overworked right, can't stand my hotness?" Lavi argued, earning him another smack on the arm from Allen. Lenalee laughed. Kanda gave another 'che' in disgust.

"Well, just go thank them or something, they had to keep tinkering with the golems. Oh, yes, Krory, you had a question?" Lenalee said kindly.

"Oh, um…there was something called an internet?" His question earned weary nods from Allen and Lavi. "Well, I had to pretend to use them, but they were indeed very complicated. And pretending to be a doctor isn't easy either…"

Allen sighed. "Don't forget adding mobile phones to that. Really, these writers have a lot of imagination if they can think of small portable phones."

At that, Johnny jumped in excitedly. "We're actually working on that right now! Chief Bak helped a lot when he came up with that earpiece that you could bring into the Ark, and so we are working on a modification of that so that you guys can communicate effectively! Apparently it is not as noticeable as a golem, and less susceptible to harm, and you can use it to play games like chess, and…" Johnny had to be restrained as the sparkles around him grew in proportion to his excitement. He was tied up in the corner with Komui.

Allen groaned as he remembered something. "Right, remember when we had to take Lavi's birthday scene in like, ten different scenarios or something? Can we come up with something so that Lavi actually seems, you know, genuinely surprised everytime instead of just plain horny when he finds me as a present on his bed? Actually, I do like the piece where Lavi has to decide whether he wants to continue being a Bookman on his twentieth birthday," Allen said, face brightening.

Lavi laughed. "You only like that cause you were the same height as me then! They had to make really special boots for you, remember?"

Allen growled and hit Lavi in the stomach. Hard. Lavi doubled over in pain. Reever sighed as he remembered the utterly impractical boots they had to create in haste. Those boots had good material, they would have to hide them from Allen if they wanted to recycle it.

Bookman cleared his throat and gave a pointed glare at Lavi. "You're as good as useless anyway, brat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do have a new apprentice to train now that you've strayed off our path."

Lavi sighed and flapped his hands. "It was inevitable, old man. By the by, aren't you glad that your role was always as a creepy stalker? Sure gives you time in the limelight, eh? Like when you walked in while we were having sex?"

This time, Lavi doubled over from a harsh kick to his head. Allen didn't move to help him. Lavi, while wincing in pain, raised another point.

"Ouch…the pain reminds me…we had to die an inordinate amount of times."

Allen nodded. "I think we were drifting on the ocean once, bloody cold too. We were going where, France? And idiot Lavi here, of all the languages he could have learnt, he never learnt a single word of French."

"Gah, you were the one who got us lost too!" Lavi said and as Allen turned glaring eyes on him he gulped and recoiled into the couch. Allen huffed and turned back to face Lenalee.

"It's also a little weird how everyone writes me as…one of these types. First, a crying and blushing girl. Second, a bastard. Third, a brat. Can we have some mediation? I am, I believe, a very normal person," Allen said self-righteously. The whole room stared in disbelief.

Lenalee laughed in a sincerely tickled manner, as if she couldn't believe the delusions Allen had about himself. "Well, you have to understand that your character gives for, um…variation, that's right, variation! Besides, isn't it fun being able to act different roles?" She beamed. Allen gaped. Lavi mentally recalled how cute it was to be able to cuddle Allen because something freaked him out or the other.

"That's not fair! Lavi was pretty decent in almost every story!" Allen complained.

"People find it more fun to torture you. You're small, cute, and jailbait. Just suck it up, Allen," Lenalee said bluntly and Allen began squawking at the injustice and perversity of it all.

Lenalee rolled her eyes and pulled out her pocketwatch. Her eyes widened and she squeaked. "We have no time, guys! We need to wrap this up post-haste, then move to our next project! I think it's fighting the Earl, or the Noahs, or something, or having Tyki rape Allen. Right, thanking the sponsors! Allen!"

"I find it hard to listen to you after you mentioned Tyki raping me," Allen said, shuddering. Lenalee narrowed her eyes and lifted her clipboard. "Right," Allen added hurriedly. "So, um, thanks to **Aion Laven Walker**-"

"She must really like us," Lavi said in awe. "Laven. And Walker. Allen, you officially have a stalker."

"Like we don't have thousands of stalkers already," Allen grumbled. "And enough golem recordings to run a pornography business. Right, so, thanks especially for your stories. I liked them, they were sweet, to the point, and you didn't torture us. Much."

"That's high praise from him here," Lavi said agreeably. "My turn. **John M. Nox**. Oooh, sweet one, the one who wrote us cheating on each other or something, right?"

Allen sighed. "No, Lavi, the one who wrote _you_ cheating on someone else with me. I was not the one who had no morals."

"That hurts, beansprout!" Lavi whined.

"Yes yes, it's okay," Allen petted Lavi's head fondly. "What else…oh, yeah, **Zuenira Azure** for torturing Lavi and making him examine his Bookman side. Lavi ranted about you for days. Don't mind him, dear, he really does love you."

"Love you too, lady! And she's not the only one who likes to torture both of us, **Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare** created fifty little scenes for us. Great shooting material, those, we went through so much turmoil, hope they're happy. Oh, here's a fun one. **Integration** apparently loves the idea of you and Kanda together, but wrote fun stuff for us. Like talking in bed about Ancient Greece," Lavi tried to stifle a laugh at the murderous looks Kanda and Allen shot each other at that point.

"Well, aside from the idea of me and Ba-Kanda together-" ("As if I'd ever be caught dead with you, moyashi," Kanda growled.) "-she was a fantastic girl. **SolemnSoul**, uh…" Allen blushed. "Uh…thanks for the, uh, leather pants you put me in?"

Lavi's eye immediately glazed over. Lenalee quickly took over.

"Right, I think it's down to me then to sincerely thank **Dhampir72** for providing me and many other girls with very…interesting scenes," Lenalee trailed off into a whisper by the end. Miranda, for some inexplicable reason, ducked her head and blushed. Komui wailed and tore out of his restraints.

"I hate you! I hate you for destroying my precious Lenalee's purity! You'll never see the next dawn!" Wailing, he ran out of the room with the newest blueprint of Komurin clutched in his hands. Reever gave a shout and chased after him, tugging Johnny with him.

Lavi shook himself out of his lust-induced fog. "I'm next! I wanna thank **xbleedinglotusx** personally for letting me execute an Eskimo kiss! You liked that, right, right, Allen?" Lavi nudged Allen.

Allen flushed and a tiny smile made its way onto his lips. "Right, yeah. Oh, and thanks for pissing off Kanda too when you made me ask him about kissing."

Kanda growled and threw a chair at Allen, apparently having had enough of the idiocy. Allen expertly ducked it and the chair flew into a wall, breaking instantly upon impact. Allen glared. Kanda glared back. Then left the room in a huff. Marie groaned and politely excused himself to chase the seething man down.

Allen shook his head. "Typical. Right. **Missus Ann** for giving us more suggestive scenes, but not actually carrying them out fully, hence saving my sore ass from another round of sex. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Lavi frowned and opened his mouth to protest. Allen just quickly flipped to the next page and nudged for him to continue. Lavi huffed. "**Baka Coconut** for literally stuffing me into a rabbit suit. Allen laughed for hours. Well done."

"You could have put more emotion in there, you know," Allen said, snickering lightly. "Okay, **Darmed** was a charming lady who brought us on a tour around London. Modern day London, I think. And bringing us completely off track from our mission. Komui complained about you for days."

Lenalee frowned slightly. "So it's her fault that Komui refused to do work for four days, claiming he was searching for his beloved Exorcists?"

Allen shushed her. "Thanking our sponsors, remember? **ShimmerT** dressed us in bathing suits, and Kanda looked hilarious in one, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart too."

Lavi cleared his throat. "**CherrySpringer** for involving lots of people, including dear Krory and Miranda, and woah, Hevlaska had an appearance too! And making us navigate Vancouver, you evil woman you."

"And…" Allen trailed off meaningfully. Lavi caught his eyes and smiled.

"**NellaXIval** and **Dgm-yoai-lover** for organizing this!" Allen and Lavi said loudly. There were cheers with varying degrees of enthusiasm from around the room, mostly at the amount of money they got from their sponsors for Headquarters. The girls silently worshipped them for the amount of beautiful material they got about two beautiful boys. The rest just worshipped the money.

"Seriously, I hate and love them all at once. I mean, all the sex scenes we had to go through," Allen mumbled.

"I love them," Lavi said, grinning salaciously. "Without them we wouldn't have this quality time together," Lavi ended sweetly, and Allen hitched a breath at the kind, loving look on his face. Lenalee carefully orchestrated a golem into recording this and silently motioned for everyone to leave the room quietly, papers and cost calculation and notes all but forgotten. As they trickled out of the room they caught Allen blushing for the hundredth time that week and snickered lightly.

"Lavi, you can be such an infuriating rabbit at times," Allen muttered, looking at the ground.

"But you love me for it, yeah?" Lavi said, smiling softly.

Allen sighed. "I can't help but feel I've forgotten something though…"

Lavi cocked his head to the side. "Like?"

"Well…somebody must have written this out for us to enact and rehearse, doesn't that mean all the writing and recording…is still ongoing?"

Allen stopped. They looked at each other. A look of pure horror crossed Allen's face as Lavi started to grin.

"Hey, author!" Lavi shouted, facing the golem. "Give us a sex scene now!"

Allen squealed embarrassingly like a girl as Lavi started to advance on him. Running towards the golem, he pounced on it as the golem started fluttering around like a trapped mouse trying to escape.

There was a scrambling sound. A muffled squeak, wet sounds and moans from the room could be heard before the golem flickered and sizzled dead.

* * *

**Analysis/Thoughts/Extra Stuff for those who are interested: **

Well…that's it, really! What else can I say but thanks to those who have read, reviewed, and favourite-d this! I have read, loved and cherish every single review that was written for this humble story (:

It's also been a blast reading all the different works. I might not have been able to review for all of them, but I hope you like the little thanks and dedications here if you were a writer for Allen/Lavi week (:

It's a little sad to see this week end. But it's been a great ride!

Keep the love strong, everyone! Let's have this again!


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